The Table
by MT Pocketts
Summary: A group of Naruto kids in High School have one thing in common: The Table. Friends through high school and trying to stay in touch beyond.
1. Karma

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

**Author's Note- MUST READ: **

No one will be in character. This is non-fiction, except that I turned my friends that I sit with at lunch into the most fitting Naruto character for them. The other Naruto fans will likely not enjoy who was chosen for them, but I'm doing it anyways. But keep in mind this is why things don't quite fit right, like how Sakura wouldn't care if Sasuke fell off of a cliff or how Hinata probably doesn't even know Naruto's name because she doesn't care or how Sakura and Shino really did date for about a month.

So enjoy the drama of my life, but be warned that the endings might suck just because that's how it came out. If anyone cares, I could later do brief descriptions of everyone rather than introduce them as I go. Oh, and yes, I am Ino ;)

**_Warnings: _**Will contain bisexuality, possible mature content, etc.

XXX

**The Table**

By MT Pocketts

Ino walked up to the table and dropped her bag off next to the chair Temari had saved for her. As always, Ino found herself across from her oldest friend, Tenten, and saw that Sakura was once more seated next to Temari and had Shino on the other side of her. More unusual was the appearance of Naruto doing his math homework on Ino's right and Hinata on the other side of him. The table was full these days.

Ino tried not to smirk as the plan came to mind, and Sakura seemed to catch the vibe. Shino would be pinker than Sakura's hair by the end of the day.

Sakura's face was set into it's usually annoyed frown since Shino was sitting next to her once again. Even though they had dated, she constantly claimed that he was annoying now, and those at the table frequently heard their arguments on how the other "never ate". It usually ended with Sakura forcing him to the lunch line, and him buying her something to eat. The others would simply watch the two interact, like it was their daily dose of entertainment at school, and try not to laugh at the pair of them.

Tenten was hard pressed to stay silent on the matter. More than once she'd come close to encouraging Sakura's wrath by asking Ino if she was alone in finding the routine ironic. All Ino could do was try not to laugh and remind Tenten of Sakura's temper. It usually worked, but everyday was the same anyhow.

Everyday except for today, that is.

Ino and Sakura had very devious minds. They frequently concocted plans for revenge, fun, and other reasons. But Sakura, like most others besides Tenten, always forgot that Ino would always go through with a plan considering she had the proper resources. This time was no different, especially since she'd done it before to someone else.

The moment came; Shino had finally gotten up to go and get his lunch. Ino sprang into action, instructing Tenten to keep watch as she did her part. The whole table watched silently as their fresh dose of entertainment began. Five pads, five tampons, and three packages of moist towelettes were withdrawn from Ino's bag. The blonde's gaze fell onto Sakura and she glared at her friend.

It had been half her idea as well, Sakura had said she would bring the tampons. Now she was just turning red and trying not to laugh as Ino did the job. The items were securely in Shino's bag, awaiting the next time the bag would be opened. It would be when he was preparing for math class.

Now, as Ino reasoned, this was only a light induction to being welcome at the table. It was just her way of saying to Shino "hey, you're one of us now" in a slightly torturous way. It wasn't like she'd never done it before.

But she really didn't expect that Sakura would warn him. The bell had rang for the end of lunch, and she warned him with a guilty smile as she glanced between him and Ino. Ino couldn't believe it; Sakura had just warned her _ex-boyfriend_, whom she constantly complained about. Sakura later confessed that she felt the prank was "too mean", which Ino frowned at. It had been Sakura's idea too.

Still, what neither of them saw coming was Shino's retaliation. He blamed the whole table for the incident, until the truth was told by the only person he considered trustworthy- Tenten.

"He's going to get you back," Sakura had mentioned at the beginning of first period. Ino raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"What's he going to do?" Ino shrugged. "Poison my lunch when I'm not looking?"

"Well… No…" Sakura said and Ino looked at her friend seriously.

"You're not going to tell me?" Ino said and Sakura's odd smile answered for her. "You gave him a warning!"

"I'll give you the same amount of warning; scent," She said.

"What? I'm your best friend, he's your ex, and we're _equal_? When did this happen?" Ino was appalled, Sakura had broken up with him because he seemed to be too uncomfortable. Now he was an equal to Ino, who had been in her life for possibly twice as long? This just seemed wrong to her.

"But you're both my friends-" It was about here that Ino tuned out and Sakura found some homework that she had neglected in favor of playing an online game- or talking to Itachi, Ino supposed- for the night. Ino found herself wishing that Sasuke would be on time for once so that she would have someone to talk to. Her other friends were busy talking to other people, sometimes it sucked being seated in the corner of the room.

She was roused by something touching her arm, and she looked over to see Neji putting a sticker on her. He sat on the other side of Sasuke, but he was next to a pair of girls whom he usually talked to and rarely said anything to her even when Sasuke was gone. So why did he put a sticker on her?

Ino peeled it off of her arm and studied it. It had a black background, a picture of a turkey, a website address and something like "Go Vegan. For your health…" on it. She hid a laugh, thinking that she'd probably starve to death first. Besides, she believed that humans had well developed canine teeth for a reason. She glanced over at Neji, whose face held a smirk, and silently placed the sticker inside of her binder. Sasuke had a rather negative view on P.E.T.A., and she knew he'd eventually see it and remark on it.

"I must say, it was a creative idea," Sakura commented to Ino, whose eyebrow raised again.

"You should just tell me," Ino said, turning to the day's assignment. Sakura wouldn't crack, so Ino gave up. Instead, she reviewed her options for evading potential danger during lunch.

XXX

Arriving at the table, Ino walked slow. She felt like an animal walking to the slaughter. She guessed that for once karma was catching up with her, but she hated it. When she first saw the table, she saw a bright orange liquid in a bottle in Shino's bag. He seemed to have it at the ready, but concealed. It said "shrimp" in bold, black letters.

Perhaps karma wasn't entirely against her.

Ino sat down across from him at the table, where Temari had saved her a seat. Temari had barely looked up from her fanfic as Ino sat down. Shino and Ino glared at each other, the war had begun. Ino felt paranoia set in, and actually pulled out two pencils. If all else failed, she could do some damage.

She couldn't help but smile, even now the look on his face behind his thick glasses told her that the plan had worked beautifully. Even thought she hadn't seen it, even though her spy hadn't recalled seeing the products in his bag, and even though he would do what he could to get her back; it was all worth it to see the look on his face. Little did he know that any kind of retaliation would be invitation to a full out war, one where back up was involved just to make the enemy turn red. Ino, despite the dread she felt now, was looking forward to it.

"So are you going to get her?" Tenten asked timidly. The stare between Ino and Shino never broke, even when he replied.

"No, today would be too soon," Shino said, in the closest he could come to an arrogant tone.

_'Bull,' _Ino thought. _'I saw the stuff in his bag…'_

"By the way Ino, do you have any food or plant allergies?" He asked.

"Yes-"

"-What are they?" He said it so quickly that it felt like he had cut her off. Ino's smirk grew, if he had any humanity in him he wouldn't do anything that could potentially kill her.

So what if it was a white lie? They hadn't been totally sure the reaction wasn't from the shrimp until they'd taken her off of the medication she had been using, and it had stopped. But, her family had a tendency to react to other sea food Ino hadn't tried yet. So there was some truth in a potential food allergy.

Throughout lunch, Ino found herself jumping up and moving away from the table whenever Shino reached for his bag- she was that paranoid- and slowly coming back when nothing orange in a spray bottle showed up. It was probably this paranoia that provoked some remarks that had been whispered to Temari, which resulted in a lunch bag being thrown at Ino by Sakura, for no apparent reason.

When the bell rang for the end of lunch, Temari and Ino waved to the others as they headed off in another direction. Oddly enough, Shino always went the same way but rarely walked with them. This was one of the rare times when he did.

"What was wrong with Sakura today?" He asked and Ino blinked at him.

"What are you talking about?" Ino retorted.

"She'd been saying something about her Aunt-" Temari added.

"-Kabuto and Anko?" Ino added and Shino nodded. "What happened now?"

"She wouldn't tell me much," He confessed.

"Yeah well, she was on edge," Ino grumbled. "She didn't need to throw that at me."

"What did you say anyway?" Shino asked.

"I told Temari that you two argued like siblings or old couples sometimes," Ino shrugged. "I don't think it deserved having something thrown at me."

"You always deserve to be hit" Was the last thing Shino said before Ino charged. He let out a single profanity and was chased to his next class by Ino, whose class happened to be right next door.

In the end, Sakura had gone home with a bag that smelled strongly of shrimp and Ino has yet to receive any type of retaliation from Shino about the tampon incident. Perhaps karma wasn't such a bad thing after all.

**A/N: **Feel free to ask for any clarifications on what has been done to people here…


	2. The Story Begins

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto… Although I'm beginning to wonder about my friend with that nickname…

**Author's Note: **A picture that goes with this story can be found here: http/ is just fun, hehehe. And thanks for the review **deathrosekitty **(hope I got the name right . ) it was very nice of you. Also, Ino's on the school bowling team, lol.

_XXX_

_Chapter 2: The Story Begins…_

"We're starting the _what_?" Ino asked and Temari continued to talk enthusiastically with Sakura.

"Weird List," Temari finally looked over at Ino. "To see who's the weirdest."

"Okay…" Ino looked over at Tenten and the two exchanged confused looks. Ino and Sakura continued to bounce ideas back and forth in the meantime.

"Bring a weird dessert for the whole table…" Temari said and continued to think.

"Wait I know! Kiss the opposite sex and French the same sex!" Sakura exclaimed. Temari and Sakura laughed and the rest of the table was silent.

"…You say it like it's difficult…" Ino finally said and Naruto burst out laughing. Ino eyed him carefully, remembering the various times the situation had come up during truth or dare. Temari turned red, Sakura cracked up, and Shino looked like a caged animal. He always heard more details than he wanted to know.

And that was the beginning of the list. It would swell to at least 46 items, including smacking people's butts at random, screaming "No I will NOT sleep with you" at someone, and wearing a Halloween costume to the mall. Before long it had dominated the daily activities of the members of the Table.

But now back to the whole "kiss opposite sex, French same sex" issue that had come up. This was possibly the most anticipated activity on the Weird List, yet it was one of the last ones to be started. Shino claimed he only looked forward to the first part of it while others just thought it would be fun. In the beginning, Ino was really looking forward to it because she was the only non-straight person at the table and she knew that she would likely get most of the interest since there was a majority of girls. But as it turns out, she was wrong about being the only one.

"I had a dream about you two last night," Sakura brought up once, and pointed at Temari and Ino. Both girls looked surprised and immediately turned to listen. This time Ino was on the other side of Shino, Sakura next to him, and Temari next to her.

"Was it like that other one you had about me?…" Ino asked, and Sakura looked confused. "The one you wouldn't tell me about because you thought I'd hurt you or be angry or something" _which probably would be the opposite of the reality…_ Ino thought the last part but didn't say it.

"Yeah, kind of," Sakura smiled sweetly- a look that was truly deceiving. "We were staying in this one place where we all had our own rooms and then we each went into them and got naked."

Sakura's smile widened and Shino began to turn pink. Ino and Temari were now focusing totally on Sakura's story now, Ino started to smile and never noticed if Temari did or not.

"So we're all naked. Then people start to switch rooms, and there's a hidden passage behind the rooms so that we can all meet up wherever we want to-"

"-and not see people we don't want to see," Temari added.

"Cool," Ino grinned.

"And let me just say," Sakura was turning very pink now, "Molesting people is fun!"

Poor Shino leaned back in surprise, pink-faced and nervously smiling, at this announcement. Temari and Ino were busy laughing at this while other members of the Table either listened with interest or had tuned out completely by now. Naruto, for one, seemed pretty interested.

"So was it you and me, or me and her, or both at the same time?" Ino wondered.

"Yes," Sakura said with a satisfied smile and Ino's eyes widened. It sounded like a fun dream.

"Are you sure you're straight?" Ino asked, since last time the topic had come up she hadn't gotten a straight (no pun intended) answer from her friend.

"I already told you I was bi," Sakura said like it was a universal fact. Shino was taken aback while Inner Ino danced around happily.

"You realize," Shino kept looking back and forth between the three girls who had been involved in the dream, "This seriously hurts my chances here."

"Well it definitely improves mine," Ino replied with a smirk. Shino did a double take at the expression on her face- like he doubted her seriousness- and ended up just staring.

"What?" He looked dumb-founded.

"You heard me," Ino tried not to laugh and a song inspired the following argument. "Keep your hands off my girlfriend."

"Oh? Make me," Shino countered and Ino narrowed her eyes.

"I'll watch you leave here limping," Ino retorted and was laughing too hard to hear a reply. "I'll take my bowling ball and knock your balls off."

They went silent after that, Ino convinced herself that it was because he had no comeback, and settled into a glaring contest.

XXX

Ino was charged with typing up the weird list and distributing it to the other people at the table. She stuffed it into her purse, slung it over her shoulder and headed out of the cafeteria with Temari at her left. Shino was waiting for them, an occurrence becoming more frequent, and they'd barely reached him before the questions started.

"Are you really attracted to her?" Shino directed at Ino and she blinked.

"Huh?" was the response, one that Ino used more often than she liked to admit.

"Sakura, are you really attracted to her?" Shino repeated and Ino shrugged while Temari listened with little interest.

"Well, yeah. Why not? That hair-" Ino was interrupted by Temari as she spoke.

"What is with people and the hair? Why does it matter so much? I don't get it!" Temari used her hands to emphasize the point, causing Shino and Ino to hide grins at the overzealous display.

XXX

_Ino and Sakura's Note the following day: (Sakura's words are bold)_

_Author's Note: Something to keep in mind is that when it gets to the note we're no longer talking about the characters from the story but the actual series. It confused me too…_

**So, what was yesterday?**

Shino seemed very interested about whether or not I was actually attracted to you.

**Shino is odd. He came on saying "I know I annoy you and I'll go away if you want". I told him to grow up and just stop telling me about how he thinks I look.**

Guess that works, I doubt he'll stop. He's trying to be nice.

**He is trying to get me to like him. No chance.**

I know.

**So… You are not going to be here tomorrow?**

Right… History test 

 **/cry**

/poke

**No**

/poke

**/giggle**

/poke

**/duck**

/chase

**/run for your life-- Naruto style!**

/calls for back up… Neji-kun!

**/stops… Neji-kun :pervert:**

/Hands off my man… er… her.. confused

**Me too**

/more back up…Sasuke-kun!

**/Neji-kun puppy eyes**

**/Byakuugan**

/Mangekyou Sharingan

**/Hold on… Naruto, you dead?**

/pulls of mask… Itachi!

**/Run**

/Appears

**/Shit… Kage Bunshin Vanish**

/appears again

**/Kyuubi**

/Akatsuki

**/Shukaku**

/Orochimaru

**/Jiraiya**

/Kimimaro, back from the dead!

**/Sesshomaru**

/Naraku

**/Hinata and friend **

/Shikamaru and Ino

**/Temari and Gaara's limp body (because Shukaku is out)**

/Lee and Gai

**/Kakashi and Iruka(naked)**

/Kurenai and Asuma

**/Tsunade**

/Third and Fourth Hokage

**/Tenten**

/Steals back Tenten

**/Steals Itachi! Rock on!**

/You discover that Sakura has poisoned him

**/Kills Sakura**

/Now you've removed the only person who knew the antidote…

………

……

…

Ino was distracted from the note by a rather rude jab in the arm from Sasuke, and she turned to glare at him. But when he mimed for her to raise her hand, she realized she had spaced out during roll call. Ino raised her hand and said here twice before the substitute teacher took note of it. She relaxed and Sasuke shook his head at her, a teasing look in his eyes and a mocking grin on his lips. Ino narrowed her eyes in response and turned back to Sakura.

It wasn't that she didn't like Sasuke, he had been a good friend this last year, it was more that she liked him more than she wanted to. He got stoned or drunk almost every weekend, and just didn't care about anything. He could write some of the most incredible fantasy stories, and was great for a political debate but when he decided to give a cutting remark it went deep. They were friends, and so they messed with each other. But after that day when he crossed a line she knew it would never go beyond it. There was a reason he was her friend and not Sakura's.

Now Neji, sitting on the other side or Sasuke, made some remark to the girl next to him and she smiled in response. The basketball lover, the ball being his only true love since all of his relationships failed. One of his ex-girlfriends claims that he was just too clingy, and that didn't seem to far from the truth. He thought he was so smart, and yet most of his intelligence was just not as funny as he seemed to think. Yeah, Sakura had liked him for awhile until he hurt her feelings. Then two months later Ino had fallen for the pale faced boy's charms- fallen hard. Then she learned that, like with Sasuke, it just wouldn't happen.

Perhaps it was the unique personality traits of these two, or just a strong sense of boredom in the two authoresses Ino and Sakura, but before long the girls had started a story about a potential gay relationship between Sasuke and Neji.

Neji and Sasuke. For some odd reason it just sounded right together. On occasion it even looked like they posed for what could potentially could be a cover for the novel Ino and Sakura would eventually write. Under Ino's penname, of course. It was well worth the odd looks Sasuke would give her for laughing at him.

Would they ever figure it out, that the story was really about them? It bothered Ino and kept her from posting the story for awhile, until she figured they wouldn't even read it. And why would they? It was yaoi, and the two guys were straight. Sure, Sasuke is comfortable with saying that Johnny Depp is hot but that doesn't really mean anything in the long run. Neji on the other hand seems willing to support his not-so-straight friends, but acts as though he freaks him out when a man hits on him.

It might have been the combination of these factors that lead the girls to writing a yaoi story about Sasuke and Neji.

Or they could have been just that bored.

Either way, it looked as though a long epic had begun. Ino found herself liking how she could make the love-hate element possible between the "stoner" and the "jock". Sakura on the other hand just wanted to write the sex scene, and this left Ino to try and salvage the actual story line.

Which worked, since she knew the main characters so well.

Before long, Ino started getting glares from Sasuke because she kept cracking up whenever she looked at him. It wasn't unusual for him to look at Sakura and ask "What is she on?"

Then again, it was hard not to laugh at someone when you had written this about them:

_(A/N: Ino's part of the story, takes place slightly after the beginning but you'll catch on.)_

_Sasuke sat there with his arms crossed, his head throbbing and he felt a strong need for a cigarette as he watched the jock try to mold the clay on the pottery wheel. His eyebrow twitched at Neji's clumsy movements, with each one being too strong and causing the clay to cave in. It was killing Sasuke. Not only was he hung over for his favorite class, he had to sit by and watch his artistically handicapped partner struggle. Why couldn't the teacher have let him go first?_

_"Stop it," Sasuke shoved Neji aside, only to receive a scowl form the white-eyed boy. With heavy eyelids threatening to close on him, Sasuke stared at the project and slowly formed the clay so that Neji could see what to do. Sasuke didn't notice the way Neji was glaring at him, he was in the zone now and couldn't be bothered. Even his hangover seemed to have faded away._

_"I get it," Neji pulled Sasuke back and tried once more. Sasuke blinked in surprise, and then frowned as Neji immediately ruined his work._

_Oh, hell no._

_"Are you really this stupid?" Sasuke slapped Neji's hands away and tried to reverse the damage. "Or does it impress the chicks?"_

_Neji glared daggers at Sasuke, who glared back. Sasuke didn't care that this guy was a jock, and he didn't care if Neji was five inches taller and a year older. An asshole was still an asshole; and Sasuke felt it was his duty to give said assholes as bad of a time as they gave him._

_**Neji's Point of View:**_

_He didn't need **this **from **a stoner**. Neji got up and started to walk out of the room, fuming at this guy for upsetting him. Him! He was THE Neji Hyuuga, basketball star, and here was this dead beat stoner trying to screw him up before a big game. Neji wasn't going to take it. _

_"If you don't work with me, you're going to fail. And there goes your GPA, your college, AND your basketball," Sasuke didn't even spare him a glance, but Neji still froze._

_Scratch dead-beat stoner, make that smart-ass stoner._

_Neji groaned inwardly and scowled at everything. He turned around and dropped angrily into the seat he had just vacated. Sasuke seemed just a little too happy with this change in the tides. Neji crossed his arms. This was SO not his day._

_Sasuke leaned forward and took Neji's hands. The athlete jerked back and Sasuke gave him a questionable look. "I can't help you unless I have you do it yourself," Sasuke looked tiredly at Neji. "Like with most people, I assume you learn by doing."_

_Neji sighed and let Sasuke direct his hands onto the clay. Something just wasn't right about how the stoner's warm hands kept his from pressing too hard into the cold clay. It was an odd angle, and so Sasuke's legs kept bumping into his. Why the hell did Sasuke seem so warm?_

_Sasuke hardly even seemed to notice, he had his hands full-- literally-- as he tried to keep Neji from ruining their piece. Neji frowned when he saw how well the clay was taking shape. He knew it was all thanks to Sasuke. Why did he have to be with this stoner?_

_"Thanks," Neji muttered when they finished and Sasuke had released his hands. Sasuke just blinked cluelessly and stared at the piece. The teacher came by and looked over their completed work, making curious sounds as she went. Neji didn't care, he was too busy hoping the clay on his hands wouldn't affect his game later. _

_"Very good, boys," She took a few notes on her clipboard. "Neji, you could really use Sasuke's guidance. He appears to be a good influence."_

_She walked away, and Neji's scowl was met by Sasuke's egotistical smirk. The stoner looked more awake now than he had all day. Neji looked away, he couldn't take having someone looking at him like that. No; he couldn't take _Sasuke _looking at him like that. Why did he have to be so smug?_

_"I could beat you at any sport any day," Neji said, more to himself than to Sasuke._

_"Want to bet on that?" Sasuke's smirk reached an evil level now. Neji couldn't help but be reminded of a jackal._

_"Sure, fifteen bucks," Neji challenged. "What do you think you can beat me at?"_

_"Soccer," Sasuke answered plainly, "So you can't use your hands. We each bring our own goalie, no one from the soccer team."_

_"You're on," John smirked, trying to think of what he'd do with that fifteen he was sure to win._

……

….

…

Sasuke stared at Ino with a mix of concern and horror in his eyes. She'd been bursting out in random fits of giggles for almost five days now. And it was whenever she looked at him. What the heck was going on here?

"What?" He asked her and she looked at him with a grin and red cheeks from laughing.

"Just a story I… read, recently," She answered and started laughing again.

**Author's Note:** Anybody want to talk to my Temari? She hasn't had much of a part yet, but her penname is **Amber Lust** if you want another view of things…


	3. The Weird List

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, or Ino, or Sakura, or Ayame._

_**A/N:** I'm trying to add my friends as they appear, but it gets tricky. Like I had to give Ayame an Inuyasha character that she will not fit at all… Oh well…_

_Chapter 3: The Weird List_

"Hello my loves," Ayame came over to Sakura and Ino as usual in the morning before class started. She gave them a happy grin and they smiled back while Ino was still talking about the new 'Weird List.'

Ayame had been in their class all trimester and her visits became more and more regular. Most of the table already knew her, and others would welcome the addition so it seemed inevitable that she would soon join them. But first things first; she needed a reason and an invitation.

"This is what I've got so far," Ino handed out lists typed up in a green font. Yes, the infamous weird list had arrived.

"What's that?" Ayame asked and took one of the copies while Sakura claimed her own. What they saw looked something like this:

**The Weird List**

**For an online version of the list which will have updates, visit blog. for Ino's protection**

1. Bring a weird dessert for the whole table.

2. Kiss someone of the opposite sex and French someone of the same sex.

3. Tell everyone, in full detail, about your sexual fantasy.

4. Lick someone's foot.

5.Submit to a makeover.

6.Be "anti" something.

7.Fan fiction readers: No fan fiction stories for a full week, and no talking about fan fiction stories. For those who don't read fan fiction: Must read them for one full week.

8. Must do any dares given in a game of Truth or Dare.

9.Flush hand down toilet.

10. Have hair done at Censored's Doos (Talk to Ino for locations, etc.)

11. Fake tattoo on forehead, or other very prominent place. (Not hand)

12. Wear your favorite cartoon character's hairstyle and outfit.

13. Go mini golfing in dresses.

14.Wear body paint for one full day.

15.Sit at random table where you know no one.

16.Karaoke

17.Dress goth/punk for a full day at school

18.Pick a favorite song and model it for a day.

19.Go camping with friends.

20.Skinny dipping with friends and/or opposite sex.

21.Go to the beach with friends.

22.Road trip.

23.Dye hair, make it a very noticeable color. (See #10)

24.Get something pierced.

25.Participate in an eating contest.

26.Fear Factor day

27.Go through the hallway or a school dance and slap people's butts randomly.

28.Strip Poker

29.Halloween costume at the Mall

30.Watch porno movie (3)

31.Find and watch the scariest movie with friends.

32.Find a situation with which to publicly cuss someone out in another language. (Yes, signing does count it's just not as funny.)

33.Wear something slutty to school.

34.Find a situation where you can yell "No, I will NOT sleep with you!" at someone.

35.Mohawk your hair.

36.Try and trick a number of people that a wig you're wearing is your real hair.

37.Walk up to a random acquaintance and announce that you're pregnant. (Yes guys, you too.)

38.No talking for a whole day (and no sign language or foreign language either) and the Day of Silence does not count. May use a pen and notebook to communicate.

39.Pretend you are one of your pets for an hour.

40.Disguise your voice for an extended period of time.

41.Profess a long-time hidden love for your best friend of the opposite sex.

42.Profess a long-time hidden love for your best friend of the same sex.

43.Draw a caricature of someone at the table; talent is not necessary.

44.Dress as your opposite for a day.

45.Wear your underwear outside of your clothes.

46.Attempt to dress, as convincingly as possible, as the opposite sex for a day.

47.Put your bathing suit in a freezer and then put in on after two hours.

48. Scavenger hunt in the mall.

49.Class of 2007 only: Support Jerico San, Kikano Shippo, or Hyuuga Neji's campaigns for senior class council. (Haha, the typist is biased!)

50.Sing "Gib mir bitte einen Kuss" into a digital camera.

51.Spend a day responding to every greeting by muttering "can't sleep…clowns will get me…" over and over, OR quote the preacher from "the Princess Bride."(See Ayame for preacher quote)

52.Go to concert (June 15th, Rock & Roll Pizza in Portland) and listen to a band where you've never heard (again, details from Ayame)

53.Dance on a table in front of strangers.

54.Fake a pregnancy (i.e. pillow under shirt for the stomach)

Ayame just giggled as she read some of the items, and tried to think of ways around the others. Yes, she certainly fit in with them.

"My mom says that if she catches me flushing my hand down a toilet, I'm grounded," Sakura said earnestly and Ino grinned.

"We'll do that at my house, I'll even clean them first," the blonde said happily, "It's number two that worries me. I don't feel like kissing any of the guys at our table…"

"Well Ino, you'll just have to kiss some guy at random," Sakura said with one of her knowing smirks.

And she could not have timed it better.

"What?" Sasuke asked, slightly waking up from his zombie-like state.

"Uh… Nothing," Ino grinned at him. "Just part of our list to see who at our table is the weirdest."

"I'm the weirdest," He stated as he sat down.

"…You haven't done anything on the list…" Ino pointed out.

"I'm still the weirdest," Sasuke smiled and put his head down on the desk.

"You're not at our table, and therefore can't be the weirdest," Ino added.

"I'm still the weirdest," He said and Ino rolled her eyes. She let the subject drop; she'd had these arguments with him before.

"Oh yeah, I added on to that story," Ino restrained a giggle as she handed the latest portion of their story about Neji and Sasuke to Sakura, and let Ayame read the beginning.

_The next day… (Sasuke's Point of View)_

_.: You idiot:. Sasuke's inner voice said bluntly as he slammed his locker closed._

_'What do you want?' He thought back angrily. Really, he was already nervous enough without this pessimist talking him down._

_.: He is going to embarrass you for even trying, you know that:. Inner Sasuke, the only thing Sasuke could think of to call the voice, said._

_'I can't let that asshole just sit there and boast. _Someone_ has to challenge him,' Sasuke glared at a random freshman girl whom had looked his way, noting how the grin on her face faded as he smiled to himself. That was what he did; he somehow got people to pull down the masks they hid behind. Even if he had to do so by force._

_.:Why do you do it:. Inner Sasuke asked, his bitter tone now just a dull afterthought. _

_'Someone has to,' Sasuke thought for a moment. 'And why not me? I'm good at it.'_

_.:You enjoy it too much:. Inner Sasuke pointed out, .: Especially with that jock.:._

"Who says I _like_ him!"_ Sasuke blurted in annoyance, a few sophomores nearby stared at him like he was crazy. He cursed himself silently for talking out loud, and frowned as he heard Inner Sasuke's laughter. Sasuke knew the conversation was over, Inner Sasuke had won._

_Neji's point of view…_

_Neji sat in pottery class, staring at the wheel they were assigned to. It looked so easy, and yet.. He knew he could not figure it out without Sasuke. The idea that he _needed _that pathetic stoner burned him inside, but it was an unfortunate fact._

_'At least I can show him on the field today," he thought. They had agreed to wait a day since yesterday Neji had a game and Sasuke had been hung-over. Neji was beginning to think it was a dumb bet, he'd even messed up during the big basketball game because he was so distracted. Thank God there was no 'I' in 'Team' or they might have actually lost. _

_Sasuke stormed into the room a few minutes before the bell rang and took the seat next to Neji where he'd been the day before. Neji blinked in surprise at Sasuke's appearance today. Unlike the previous day he actually looked awake, there were no bags under his eyes and it looked like he'd spiked his dark hair. Neji could not help but wonder if a good night's sleep had really inspired all of this._

"Think you can do it on your own now?"_ Sasuke asked Neji as he gestured at the wheel._

"I doubt it,"_ Neji grunted, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him._

"You blew it at the game, huh?"_ Sasuke wondered aloud and received a glare._

"Shut up,"_ Neji grumbled and put some clay on the wheel._

"Fine,"_ Sasuke shrugged, though his face still held a smirk since he knew he had been right. _"Let's just start then."

_Sasuke's point of view…_

_It wasn't like he was looking forward to playing soccer against Neji. Once he found a goalie he just wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. But, where would he get one? Most of his friends would laugh at him for suggesting it._

_"What'd yo—_

"Hey Sakura," Ino whispered to her friend before she read too far on that page. "He always has at least one girl he can joke with in each class and usually sits by her. Who should it be? We need a name for that part."

Sakura nodded knowingly and bent over to write down a name. Ino looked over her friend's shoulder as she continued to read. Ino rolled her eyes when she saw that it was her own name that had been put down as Sasuke's friend. Figures.

"What'd you get for 23?"_ Ino elbowed him, jarring Sasuke from his thoughts._

"Uh.. False,"_ He said and she nodded._

_.:Are you seriously this dumb, Sasuke:. Inner Sasuke laughed. Sasuke was surprised and annoyed at this until he caught on. Ino._

"Hey Ino,"_ Sasuke started. _"Do you play soccer?"

"I used to, why?"_ She looked suspicious._

"I… Need a goalie,"_ Sasuke sighed and told her the story. She looked ready to laugh but nodded along anyway._

"Yeah, I can do that. Goalie was one of my favorites,"_ Ino smiled._

"You'd better be a freakin' genius when it comes to goal-keeping,"_ Sasuke teased._

"We'll see,"_ Ino shrugged and went back to work._

_Neji's point of view…_

_The day dragged by, but Neji finally found himself on the soccer field waiting for Sasuke. One of his basketball buddies had agreed to be his goalie, and was now standing patiently by the goal. It wasn't long before Sasuke and a girl walked up, arguing as they went. Neji dimly wondered who she was; Sasuke couldn't have a girlfriend._

_But, why did he care?_

"Like it so far?" Ino grinned at her friends when they handed back the papers. She did not miss the look that crossed Ayame's face when Neji arrived and sat down in the seat next to Sasuke; it was the same look that broke out on Ino's face so often when she was writing.

The bell rang and Ayame blew the two girls a kiss before heading back to her own seat. Ino waved back and glanced over at Sakura, then frowned when she noted the book under her friend's nose. It would be at least an hour before the pink-haired girl would resurface and interact with the world again.


	4. Had a bad day

**Disclaimer:** Despite my imagination, I own none of these characters.

_Chapter 4: Had a Bad Day_

Ino had seen better days. It did not help that it was exactly two days before her father's birthday, meaning it was nearly two months since the arrogant douche had last spoken to her—on the phone anyways. Two months and a week since they'd spoken in person. The rapid change between speaking to him every single day and now no longer hearing a single word took a toll on her.

Matters were not improving when she had her wisdom teeth out in that small time gap. All four at once, and her uncle did the surgery. Her uncle; as in her father's brother. What happened to patient confidentiality? Ino's mother called to tell the father of her daughter what would be happening, and when the man was unable to reach either of those two females he called his brother. From the call Ino's mother received the day Ino was drugged from the surgery, the doctor had told all. Seriously, what happened to patient confidentiality? Just because they were family should make no difference whatsoever.

It did not help either when one particularly stressful weekend erupted. Ino was spending time with family friends at her aunt's house when a siren went off and they all stopped to look at the cop cars piling into the cul-de-sac. When the ambulance came after the mother was arrested the girls felt sick; a toddler had been stabbed to death by their mother in front of their siblings. The next two steps in this disastrous weekend involved a call from Temari, who was at the hospital because her friend's mom had fallen ill during their road trip. The last straw was when Sakura called and said simply "we're going to the hospital."

"What? Why?" Ino felt that trademark lump in her stomach before Sakura even continued.

"Yuu broke his neck," Sakura had said before explaining more.

So it was no wonder Ino was in a slump the following Monday, the one leading up to her father's birthday which happened to be just under two months after her own birthday when he had stopped talking to her.

What a way to spend your seventeenth year, right?

It was lunchtime, and Ino found herself greeting acquaintances as she came back from the bathroom. _If only they had any idea…would I have to fake this smile then? _Ino wondered and just continued to go with the flow of the crowd towards the table.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a single white rose on her lunchbox. She frowned slightly and noted that Shino was sitting next to her and had not gotten her back for the tampon incident yet. Was there a worm in there or something?

"I was just kidding and he got us all flowers!" Temari swung hers around and Ino blinked. Sure enough, all the girls at the table had flowers. Sakura was absent, oddly enough, and Ino also hid a smirk when she noticed that Ayame's rose was red and had a few more buds than anyone else's. "They came by selling roses, and I said he should be a gentleman and get us roses. Then he whips out five dollars and gets us each one!"

"How come I didn't get one?" Naruto complained in a teasing tone.

"I'm sorry," Shino said, not missing a beat. "I just don't love you enough."

The table erupted in laughter as Naruto smiled softly, it looked like he did not have a come back for that one. It was a landmark; Shino was getting more social.

"Thanks, Shino," Ino said as she sat down, still a little surprised.

xXx

"So her mom is fine and she's already back home," Temari said about her friend's mom that had been in the hospital as they walked to class after lunch. Shino was trailing along behind silently as they chatted.

"Good… God, that was a crazy weekend," Ino muttered.

"Hey," Temari frowned and Ino mumbled an apology for taking the lord's name in vain. Ino felt it a dumb commandment, but then again she was agnostic so she basically thought that of all of them.

"Oh and by the way," Shino finally broke into their conversation. "I finally got my revenge."

"What?" Ino was taken aback. He'd actually done something? No way…

"And they're in your backpack, in the small pocket in the back," Shino continued.

"You realize that by retaliating you've started a war," Ino raised an eyebrow as Temari giggled.

"Yes, but do keep in mind, I warned you," Shino said as Ino was reaching for the pocket already.

"I'll remember, that was a nice thing," Ino reached in and rolled her eyes. Trojan wrappers. At first she'd thought he had shoved candy wrappers in there, but it was the wrappers from Trojans. "You're kidding… is this it?"

"What?" Temari poked her head in and Ino showed her.

"Here, I'll throw them away," Shino took the two wrappers and squished them in his hand as they walked.

"That's not even worth retaliation…" the blonde was now laughing. It had taken every ounce of courage for him to do that. Should they show him better ideas? Probably not, it might result in a heart attack.

"Next time you should get a condom and put whipped cream in it, then tie it off," Temari suggested with a wicked grin.

Shino and Ino waved off Temari as they continued towards their classes, still talking about better ways to do the condom prank. Or any prank, for that matter. Ino heard someone yelling her name but ignored it. The yelling got closer and she recognized the voice: Naruto. She sighed and wondered what on earth he could want after seeing her at lunch, then an idea occurred to her.

"Ino—" Naruto was still yelling.

"NO, I will NOT sleep with you!" she screamed at him and turned back around.

"But Ino, I love you…" Naruto trailed off and she could not help but grin. They had both just checked something off of the list.

"That doesn't count," Shino said plainly.

"Yeah it does," Ino retorted, only to be denied again. They continued until they got to class.

Well, perhaps today was not so bad after all if they kept her entertained like this.

xXx

As mentioned before, many words ago, Ino and Tenten are best friends. They do not have the convenience of conversing easily during lunch, but they make up for it in other ways. Like going on a mini-road trip, this counted for another item on the weird list. Well, on Ino's list anyway. Tenten was actually the scorekeeper since there was about 99 percent of the list that she would not do.

"Okay, so this is where my mom's sister lives," Ino said as they pulled into a small country town. It was about twenty minutes from where they lived, and a beautiful place to be. Ino led her old friend over to a part of main street and stopped near an overlook.

"Wow, it's so pretty," Tenten said when they got out of Ino's truck to admire the view.

"Right about here," Ino indicated where they were standing. "They had a pirate display during their summer festival, and they had guns and a cannon. The cannon was fired a few times, and they had set times they could do it because people were acting below."

"Where?" Tenten looked down and Ino pointed. The hill was huge and very steep, but a small trail with a miniature park and a large gazebo could be seen.

"Actually, I've never been down there. Want to go?" Ino smiled at her friend and they went over to a nearby stair way and went to look. Tenten was always good for her. Ino soon found herself forgetting her family problems, and just enjoyed her good old friend's company.

As always, they ended the day with a traditional chick-flick marathon at Ino's house.


	5. Wake me up when September Ends

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and Sakura does not own me. I am simply her "teddy bear."_

_Author's Note: Yes, this story is back from the dead. And I'm sorry for the gap you're about to see. I also hope Shino does not find it necessary to harm me after this chapter…_

**Chapter 5: Wake Me Up When September Ends**

_Five or so months after Chapter 4. Now the Senior year of the Table…_

Ino walked into the school, only a few minutes later than usual. She went over to her locker on the side of the Senior Hallway, expertly dodging random freshman and sophomores. As she did the combination, a voice called out her name.

"Hey, there's Ino!" Sakura had yelled, and Ino saw her standing there with Shino. Shino suddenly seemed to look like a deer caught in the headlights while Sakura looked… relieved?

"What are you guys doing down here?" Ino asked, as they normally would have been sitting at what was now their morning Table. Yes, the whole Table had been split up in their Senior Year. They had different lunch periods. Sakura and Ino were alone at their lunch while Ayame, Shino, Tenten, and Temari all had the other lunch period. Last but not least, Temari's brother Naruto had moved with her parents.

"Oh, Shino needed help with math and we were going to go get it," Sakura explained, walking towards Ino. Shino pointedly remained behind, still looking lost. Ino could not help but stare back and forth between the two. Shino said something fast that neither girl entirely understood, and he then swooped back into the cover of the Table.

"Ok, that was weird," Sakura commented, waiting patiently by her best friend's locker.

"Yeah…" Ino trailed off and took a few books from her locker.

"He's been weird lately," Sakura admitted as Ino closed her locker. Ino merely nodded, knowing the story all too well. Over summer vacation Shino had opened up and learned to relax rather well. Times with him in CWP (that's Contemporary World Problems, a wonderful _required_ class) had actually been pretty fun. Even if one of those times had been because they were laughing at him for accidentally (yes, accidentally) looking up Sakura's skirt. Yet lately, he had grown awkward and arguments with Sakura had increased.

It did not help that Sakura was on edge anyways. She had been on several complaint rants for the past few days. It had even spread to Ino, who developed not only Sakura's skill for complaining but the tendency to procrastinate on assignments. The combination resulted in a very stressful weekend and a lesson well learned.

But the authoress digresses; the girls had easily noticed Shino's mood change. This day Sakura chose for the two to go to their first period early as opposed to waiting like they usually did. Later upon reflection, Ino wondered if this had anything to do with the way Shino had been acting. He seemed to be annoying the rosette one more and more lately.

The girls fell into the usual schedule. They laughed as much as usual during first period, and bumped into Shino on the way to second period: CWP. Second period was boring, and the girls split up before lunch.

This was where Ino's day took a unique turn. The strange experience from that morning was explained to Ino, who had a hard time letting it sink in. For the first time in at least two months, she knew something that she would not be able to tell one of her best friends. Not the greatest feeling in the world, that was for sure.

Ino then went downstairs to the Table she and Sakura had adopted. The revelation from Shino stayed in her mind vividly, but soon was distracted by the antics of her school's spirit week. She sat down next to Rayko, a new student from a few states away that had only found them as friends, and watched the scene before her.

On the stage set up in the cafeteria, four students laid down on the ground and wore garbage bags. Then their partners would scoop ice cream and try to drop it accurately into the cone held in the other partner's mouth. This was then followed by covering it with chocolate syrup.

"I would let you try and drop it on me," Ino told Rikin, grinning slightly. Sakura still had not returned for where ever she had gone, but Ino could already hear her disbelieving grunt.

"Hmm…. No, not me," Rikin said. "But I bet Rayko would." Ino thought for a moment and watched as they struggled to find a second group to do the ice cream drop.

Needless to say, soon Ino was on stage in a garbage bag and had even brought Rayko up with her. They had Ino lay down and put a cone in her mouth, which soon made her feel especially nervous. She soon discovered the ice cream was a lot heavier than it seemed. Rayko's first try fell dully around her chin, and rolled down slowly. Ino tried not to laugh, she ended up failing and biting a small hole in the cone. Rayko finally succeeded on her third try, also reaching down to correct it. By now Ino was only opening her eyes to see what Rayko would be up to next.

When the chocolate syrup came, Ino found that it was no longer the comfort food she had always believed it to be. It was a horribly sticky mess, and soon they were done but Ino could not get up. Rayko was toweling her off so she could at least sit up, but soon Rayko panicked, as well as one of the activity's directors. A scoop of ice cream was still rolling down Ino's back over the garbage bag. Her hair had been covered in chocolate syrup and it had gotten all over the back of her shirt.

A voice in the back of Ino's head wished Miroku was there to help clean up the chocolate, but she simply smiled and grabbed a towel once the garbage bag was off. Toweling off your hair; troublesome. Toweling off your hair and catching a glimpse of the Yearbook staff snapping yet another picture of you covered in chocolate syrup; priceless.

And yet, it was worth the free ice cream they gave her.

-x-X-x-

Ino was glad when Temari's meeting was over. It was fine that they would shop for Sakura's birthday present and have some much needed girl time -- something Ino was learning to divide up amongst her friends-- but this meeting was odd. Yeah, sign language was a great thing. But Ino was in her fourth year of German, making her feel incredibly out of her element.

"So you were thinking the mall?" Ino asked as she backed out of her parking spot and began to leave the parking lot.

"Yeah…" Temari said noncommittally. It was basically solidified in both girl's minds: they would be checking out anime things first, hoping to find a present for Sakura there.

Little did they know, this was going to be a night that would be forever written in their memories….

_Author's Note: Bwahahaha, now my Table friends you must start reviewing to get me to update!!! Shino-kun, Sakura-chan, it IS possible to leave an anonymous review. You don't need a account, so leave me a review already!!!_


	6. Truths

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, blah blah, blah…

**A/N: **This chapter will be written differently, that way I can get it out faster and try new things. Here we go!

Oh, and you can thank Natsumi for the update, her reviews are inspiring

_Chapter 6: Truths_

Sakura's birthday present from Temari was a gummi whip and handcuffs. Her mother ate the whip, and Sakura was able to save the handcuffs for herself. She told Ino it tasted like watermelon, the blonde responded by banging her head against the desk.

Due to lack of participation over summer, Ino seemingly won the title of "weirdest" after doing such things as getting a piercing, strip poker and cross-dressing for a day. A lesson well learned: loopholes are your friends!

Ino and Sakura bet on how long Neji's first relationship of the year would last. Ino said two weeks, Sakura said one. Shockingly, both were proven wrong; it was three weeks.

Why not to date a pervert: Ino broke up with Miroku, after he cheated twice. Thank goodness it only lasted a few months…

Sasuke also had a nasty break-up, one which he described to Ino for at least a half hour during one math class.

Shino and Sakura continued to make those around them claim they behaved like a married couple. Sakura deflected these claims by saying a few things that made even Ino blush.

Temari and Ino had several girl's nights together. One of which was an exotic excursion to the mall, and the second involved Temari pushing Ino out of bed during the night and an eating contest the next day. Surprisingly, Ino won the eating contest by one burrito and one taco. Yo quiero Taco Bell (A/N: I don't speak Spanish, please forgive any possible error here).

Rayko turned out to be a Republican. She has learned to avoid political issues at the Table, especially gay marriage, as she is overwhelmed by bisexual democrats.

Shino slowly started leaving the Table more, claiming they were boring. Ino and Sakura planned a "swimsuit contest" to change his mind.

Tenten and Ino went to see "Nativity Story," and the religious discussion that followed left Ino scarred deeply by her zealous best friend.

Christmas rocked, hands down.

Shino started scaring Ino, who finally learned that fake anger worked well against him. Unfortunately, it also scared their second period teacher.

Temari decided she was in love with Shikamaru. Ino was speechless.

Ino decided she didn't like anybody; except the boy next door whom she barely sees anymore. Then she ran into him at the mall, but nearly missed him. Temari said he probably thought Ino didn't like him, Ino cursed the drama that was their school.

Hinata got more talkative, believe it or not.

Naruto went Goth, believe it.

Shino proved he was still socially awkward by the way he attempted to tell Tenten her shirt was too low-- by whispering to Sakura, causing more attention to be drawn to the scene than was necessary.

Temari squealed with delight because she got back in touch with someone she and Ino had met their freshman year. He still believed it was Temari that had liked him when it was really Ino.

Ino wonders why no one has noticed that she basically likes everyone.

Shino wonders why no one sees him as a threat, including Ino's mother and Sakura's mother who let him spend the night with the girls--downstairs from everyone else.

The truth: he just isn't a threat.

Ino had told Sakura that Shino was planning on "making a move on her" that morning when they had found her in the hall. His definition of making a move turned out to be announcing his crush on her.

Ino took the SAT a second time with Sasuke and Tenten. She car-pooled with Tenten but wound up in the same room as Sasuke due to their last name. He didn't talk to her in that room until they went out for break or the test was over. When she spaced out during the time she had left after some sections, she wondered why she and Sakura never finished that story about him and Neji. It would be nice to have someone to laugh at again…


	7. College

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

**Author's Note:** This is probably the last chapter of the Table, as it's too difficult to keep up with it and my friends now that we're all in college. Maybe someday I'll come back to it and play with it again, which would make it mostly fiction, but for now I'm going to wrap things up. Thanks for the support!

Chapter 7: College

Ino tapped her pencil against the notebook steadily, wishing the connection would hurry up already. She pretended not to notice how her roommate would glance over at her, the noise was clearly bothering her. However, it bothered Ino that it was seemingly impossible for her to keep the Ethernet plugged in so that the unfortunate blond could also get online to do her homework. Or to keep in touch with her friends, such as was the case now.

Finally, the little bubble at the bottom of the screen appeared to confirm that Ino was online. She set her notebook aside and scooted the laptop closer to herself and logged into messenger. This time she waited a little more patiently, hoping to see one of her friends on. The room was silent, apart from the frenzied typing of her roommate, whom soon left to use the restroom.

Logged in, no contacts online.

She sighed in defeat. Tenten wasn't on, Sakura was impossible to contact unless you were a WoW player, Shino was busy with whichever girl he was now dating, Naruko was probably working and Temari was estranged in somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Ino logged into Myspace and checked her messages hopefully, only to be disappointed again. Sasuke hadn't updated any more than the two times he'd messaged her to say he'd seen their old German teacher and that he was going to be a father. Ino was rather disappointed that it seemed so hard to keep in touch with people. Seriously, what happened?

She sighed again and closed her laptop, getting up to leave her room only to be totally startled by running into Reno in the doorway. He grinned at her, that little cocky smile he seemed to always wear. It would be another four or six months before she realized it was a smile that he on used around her. "I was wondering how long before you'd notice."

"Nice one, _gege_," Ino retorted with the Chinese nickname she'd given him, catching her breath again. She only called him _gege_, big brother, when she was a little annoyed with him. It was also negated some of the awkward tension between them, at least on her end. "What's up?"

"Just stopping by," he answered, though he lived only two doors away so he 'stopped by' frequently. "Market run?" She grinned and nodded, grabbing a jacket as they both walked out of the room.

XXX

Ino was able to—occasionally—at least keep up with what happened back home. By sophomore year, it was clear who her real friends were. Ino was an RA, though was not re-hired for the following year and started hunting for a job again. With plans of studying abroad in China senior year, it was getting to the point where money was a big deal. Spring, as seemed to be tradition, was hard for her again with the seven year anniversary of her father moving out and then Reno appearing in the middle of the street on the second Friday the 13th of the year. She found it hard enough not having him living only two doors away, but then when a thousand miles becomes ten feet it suddenly hit a lot harder.

Shino dated a few Asian girls throughout his first couple of years in college, and was constantly asked Ino via messenger how to say some words in Chinese or what something meant. It was handy that she'd started taking a language so useful to him; otherwise he might not talk to her so often. Sakura sounded jealous every time the subject came up, and though Shino and Sakura had stopped talking for a few months they managed to set aside their differences so that the whole group could be together again for Christmas.

Sakura, for her part, also had found a boyfriend. Though he was of the long distance, World of Warcraft interested, Canadian variety. This relationship eventually ended when he wanted to marry her and she was very aware that she was not ready for such a step. Temari had also found a boyfriend, who later came home with her when she returned after being away for nearly a year. Tenten also found her way back home due to the cost of school, but after a year at the local community college she got into another University and will be on the other side of the state next year.

Times change, we all grow up and sometimes apart. But at least we've always got each other. Here's to holding on to each other even when all of our directions in life try to pull us apart.


End file.
